MUSEUMS OF ANKARA

Museums were founded in Ankara when the Republic was established. Ataturk attached great importance to the study of Turkish history, and to the gathering and classification of Turkish cultural and artistic works. He first issued directives to establish a National Museum and a Hittite Museum in Ankara. In 1925 construction of the Ethnographic Museum began. The Ethnographic Museum was opened in 1928. Works from the pre-Hittite and Hittite periods began to be collected. The Mahmud Pasha Bazaar and the Kursunlu Caravanserai were repaired and became the Hittite Museum. Later this museum was re-named the Ankara Archaeology Museum. In 1967 it was again re-organized and opened as the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilisations :

The Mahmud Pasha Bazaar houses the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The prime minister of Fatih Sultan Mehmed constructed it during 1464-1471. A large 10-domed hall resting on four columns is used as the exhibition hall of the Museum. The shops surrounding the hall were pulled down with the exception of five on the west side. The site of the other shops has been turned into exhibition rooms. The Kursunlu Caravanserai, which has three stories, and is adjacent to the Bazaar. It is of the same period. The museum storerooms are on the ground floor. On the second floor of the colonnaded courtyard are a laboratory, storerooms and workshops. On the third floor, there are administrative offices of the museum, a library and a conference hall.

The works on display in the exhibition rooms are divided into two sections. The central domed hall contains stone objects, and the side rooms the smaller findings. The stone objects are arranged as they were found. The archaeological findings are arranged according to chronological order.

The stone works in the central hall were brought from centers of the Hittite Empire and the Late Hittite Period. These centers are Alacahoyuk, Aslantepe, Karkamis, and Sacagozu. There are also bas-reliefs from the Ankara region, which belong to the Late Hittite and later periods.

The exhibits in the side rooms are arranged as follows :

Palaeolithic Age : Remains of Paleolithic culture in Anatolia are found on the river banks, sea shores and in caves around Ankara, in the region of Maras and Hatay, the Central Black Sea region, Trakya, Isparta and Antalya. The most important of these centers is the Karain Cave, which is situated on the limestone skirts of Damascus Mountain. It is 27 km. northwest of Antalya.

There is a case displaying examples of findings from this period.

Neolithic Age : This Age, which lasted until 7 thousand BC in Anatolia, is represented by objects from the centers of Catalhoyuk and Hacilar.

A full-scale model of a room discovered in Catalhoyuk has been built in the Museum. In the showcases are exhibited works found in Catalhooyuk and Hacilar. Among these are figurines of women made of pottery and various stones. Some figurines represent the Mother Goddess.

There are also tools made of flint and obsidian, plain coloured pots and bowls of several shapes, seals and ornaments.

Calcolithic Age : This age is of particular interest because it is the period when metal instruments began to be made as well as those of stone, bone, and wood.

Objects dating from this period have been found in many barrows in Anatolia. Excavations at Hacilar, Canhasan, Alisar, Alacahoyuk and Tilkitepe uncover objects. They are exhibited in the Museum.

Old Bronze Age : From the year 3 thousand BC onwards, objects began to be made of various different metals in Anatolia. Objects made of copper, lead, tin, silver and alloys of copper/tin (bronze) and silver/gold (electron) were made.

Important findings of the late period of this age are the graves of kings or princes found in Alacahoyuk and Horoztepe. Although of simple construction, these graves contain extremely valuable death offerings. Among these are bronze and electron statues representing the Mother Goddess, symbolic sun-shaped discs, statues of bulls and deer, gold and silver vases and drinking cups, ornaments, and every kind of scepter and weapon. They show the high degree of craftsmanship attained in the working of metals.

Assyrian Trade Colonies Age : Around 2 thousand years BC, Anatolia was one of the most prosperous and developed areas. This prosperity dated back to 3 thousand BC. Led by the Assyrian State, the Mesopotamians entered into extensive trade relations with Anatolia. This led to the introduction of writing to this country and thus Anatolia entered the Historical Age.

The places that the merchants founded, traded with and lived in are called Karum. There are nine Karums in Anatolia. They were under the administration of the Head Karum in Kultepe, which is near Kayseri.

Works from this age uncovered by excavations are on display in show cases.

Hitite and Late Hitite Age : After the Assyrian traders left Anatolia, the Hittites established sovereignty over Anatolia and united the city-states into a political union. The Early and Late Hittite Ages lasted from the 17th Century BC to the 7th Century BC.

In this section of the museum are exhibited the findings of excavations at Bogazkoy, Alacahoyuk etc.

Phrygian Age : The Phrygians appeared in Anatolia after the Hitites. They established sovereignty over an area stretching from Afyon in the west to the inner bend of the Kizilirmak River in the east. Findings from the important Phrygian city of Gordion are displayed in the show cases.

Urartu Age : The Urartu State was a powerful state in Eastern Anatolia in the first quarter of the first thousand years BC.

The graves of the Urartus, who were skilled stonemasons, were in the form of houses. Their workmanship in gold, silver, bronze and ivory was very advanced. During this period, the metal goods made by the Urartus became the fashion. Statues of people and animals, and decorated bronze pans were exported to Italy, Greece and inner Phrygia.

This state used cuneiform and Urartu picture writing. They were unable to withstand the upsurge of the Isket-Medians in the 6th Century BC. They were defeated.

The findings of the archaeological excavations carried out in various Urartu centers in Eastern Anatolia are on display in the Museum.

Coins and Gold Ornaments : There are several show cases displaying coins, and treasure from the pre-lslam and Islamic periods, and gold ornaments from various periods.